Chefs are cooking with love for Ronald McDonald House

Chefs will be teaching classes in a kitchen at the Ronald McDonald House near Rady’s Children’s Hospital. The lessons from some of San Diego’s best will raise money for the charity. (Ronald McDonald House Charities)

Chefs will be teaching classes in a kitchen at the Ronald McDonald House near Rady’s Children’s Hospital. The lessons from some of San Diego’s best will raise money for the charity. (Ronald McDonald House Charities)

You won’t learn the secret to McDonald’s golden crisp french fries, but if you attend a cooking class in the new Ronald McDonald House kitchen, you will learn how to make asparagus and mushroom risotto, chicken and dumplings, and red velvet cupcakes among other dishes.

Several top toques in San Diego are donating their time and expertise to teach the Cooking With Love classes to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego. In San Diego since 1980, the charity opened its Ronald McDonald House as a home away from home for families with seriously ill children being treated at area hospitals.

Last summer, RMHCSD opened its new, 65,000-square-foot, 47-bedroom center across from Rady’s Children’s Hospital. It came equipped with a cook’s dream: a spanking new kitchen.

Two kitchens, actually.

Separate from a gleaming commercial operation — where staff serves three meals a day — is an area with six cooking stations in which families staying at the house can prepare their own meals. The chief glory is 47 small refrigerators lining the walls, one for each guest room’s use.

“We’ve never had the capacity that we have now,” said Sandy Camarillo, chief operating officer of RMHCSD. “Before, all we had was one big refrigerator that everyone had to share. I was really glad to see the old 10-foot kitchen go. Every bit of it.”

The Cooking With Love series is set up so 24 students can participate hands-on at these cooking stations while about 50 more can look on. Carol Clark, a board trustee of RMHCSD and chair of the series, began in November searching for a talented culinary roster and her plate quickly filled.

“I love to bake and cook and I love to go to restaurants,” said Clark. “It wasn’t hard to find good chefs willing to teach in this world-class kitchen and help raise community awareness about the families who use Ronald McDonald House. I knew these chefs could bring people in.”

Sharon Smith, vice president of development for the charity, said cooking classes seemed like a natural for attracting the public.

“We wanted a ‘friend raiser’ rather than a fundraiser,” said Smith. “We want everyone to come see the house and how wonderful it is.”

Culinary curriculum

Cooking With Love classes will meet from 3 to 6 p.m. Sundays in Ronald McDonald House’s new kitchen at 2929 Children’s Way. Classes are $75 to participate in a hands-on session or $50 to observe, with all proceeds going to the house. The schedule:

• March 21: Chef Philippe Verpiand of Cavaillon Restaurant in Santaluz will share his approach to his native regional fare combined with local ingredients and modern techniques. This class is being underwritten by Bristol Farms.

• May 23: Chef de Cuisine Jeffrey Kaplan of Luc’s Bistro in Poway will show students how to prepare Southern favorites.

• July 18: Chef Michelle Ciccarelli reveals her secrets behind her diminutive cakes at Cups Organic Bakery in La Jolla. She is also the creator of the signature Ronald McDonald House Love Cup, a lemon-vanilla bean cupcake with lemonade Swiss meringue frosting and fresh strawberries.